Morningside Cuesta don't make a shadow of yourself

@Luke!

The hollow was so different from her home lands, and though she recognized the value in that, she had pangs of longing for familiarity, during which she wished for the dry, cracked ground beneath her paws instead of the lush grass, when she missed spending long afternoons picking her way up the steep canyon walls, seeing how high she could get before she couldn't find a foothold.

In such a mood, she wandered a ways from the hollow in the early morning when the first fingers of light were stretching toward the sky until she found the cuesta, a rolling hill the stopped short and gave way to some precarious cliff faces and rocky ledges. A river was nestled into the rocks at the bottom, and with a wag of her tail and a small hum of pleasure, Bhreac set to finding her way to the river. It wasn't an easy process, and she spent most of the time circling from the top, trying to find the greatest slope. 

It took the better part of the morning to find her way to the bottom; it'd been a while before she'd done something like that, but it felt familiar and comforting, to keep her eyes fixed on the careful placement of her feet, her mind on moving her body exactly as she needed to safely find the bottom. She'd been talking what felt like constantly over the past few days, which wasn't really her favorite thing, although it felt like a necessity. This felt much more like her — quiet, focused, physical. 

She hopped off the final ledge onto the level ground, and made her way to the water's edge, drinking greedily to wet her dry mouth after the somewhat long downward climb in the summer heat.

Their pack was not official, but it was on the cusp. The final preparations were being made, and then their songs would lift into the sky and tell all of their presence, their bond. Their numbers had swelled with several new faces, and Luke was eager for some one on one time with his new packmates. He crossed the path of one, heading out from the hollow, and decided to follow her, combining an outrider trip with a meet and greet.

It took him near an hour to catch up to her, and when he did she was bending to drink at the river. He bounded over to her, tail playing in the air. "Hey!" he sang out as he drew closer. "I don't think we've met. I'm Luke," he grinned, eyes bright and excited as he waited for her to introduce herself.

Bhreac looked up when the other called out to her, bounding toward her with his tail wagging. That actually made her feel instantly at ease — the longer she spent here, the easier it was to accept that she was going to be constantly confront with wolves she knew nothing about, and it was getting easier to keep herself from being too nervous about it, but for him to approach her openly, loudly, and with his tail wagging made it easier not to assume the worst. As such, she mustered a smile as he neared and wagged her own tail, nodding a bit at his introduction.

"We haven't met, but I've heard about your nose," she said, eyes flicking briefly over his features. It was maybe the strangest thing she'd ever seen — her family was filled to the brim with wolves with vibrant eyes of all colors, though the gene had missed she and Eshe, but she'd never seen anything like this. "You have celebrity status. Well, your nose does. I'm Bhreac Endore — I think you've met my sister."

That she had heard about his nose, and that it had celebrity status elicited a chuckle from the sunny wolf. He knew it was a good conversation starter, so it followed suit that it was also an appropriate conversation piece among others. It did not bother him that his blue nose proceeded him, rather he was amused and perhaps even delighted. In some way, it spoke to how he was establishing himself here.

"Oh, Quill?" he guessed as he sought confirmation as to who her sister was. They shared a similar, monochrome coat, and were both new to the pack. "Is she the one who told you about my nose?" he asked. "Did she tell you about these?" he stuck out his tongue and lifted a paw, exposing his other blue features in his classic, humorous way.

 I SAVE U

Harlyn had been eager to meet the newer of their recruits.  They had more now than she had imagined they would, but each she took as further confirmation that she and Mordecai were moving down the path that the gods wanted of them.  The druid peered skyward at the rays of sunlight peeking down at them between the branches of the canopy.  She smiled, said a silent thank you to Brother Sun, and then was promptly distracted by the sound of voices in the distance.

Turning her paws eagerly, she wove through the trunks of the trees towards her packmates.  Two voices eventually became one, and when Harlyn came upon the scene, it was to see one wolf leaving, but one remaining.  Disappointment that she wouldn't be meeting her new packmate was short-lived for soon enough, she was striding up to her best friend and nipping affectionately at his muzzle.

"Hey there, my dear," Harlyn crooned with a grin.  With all that was going on, they hadn't had too much time to catch up.  Now seemed like as good an opportunity as any.

thanks! <3

The pair chatted for a while, before Bhreac excused herself. Luke himself was about to slip into the water for a bit of swim, when he spotted his closest companion coming toward him. His ears perked and his lips curved into a warm smile as his tail waved. Not since they had set out to find the hollow had they spent much time together, as most of their attentions had been focused on establishing the pack.

"Hello, alpha," he grinned, returning her affectionate nip with a soft lick to her satin ear. "So, whatcha think?" His smile broke into a wide grin. "I think we got ourselves a home and a growing family."

Harlyn's ear twitched at his touch and she tittered softly at the tickle. Her eyes sought his with affection as he responded to her greeting. A swell of pride fluttered in her chest as he enunciated 'alpha' pointedly. It was strange to finally be in the exact position she'd always dreamed of, but it was a wonderful sort of strange. 

"I do believe you are right, my friend," Harlyn replied with a happy flourish of her tail, "things seem to be going so smoothly, I can hardly believe it. The gods are good." 

"Indeed they are," he agreed with a bob of his head, though he himself held no belief in any of the many gods that wolves looked up to. Life was what you made of it, however you chose to do so. His companion was lead by her heart and her beliefs to found this pack, here in the hollow. She had made it so. She was the good.

His teeth reached out to playfully tug at the ruff of her neck before he pounced sideways and launched into the water. "Come on!" he called, adding to his gesture of invite the moment prior. "Come for a swim!" Luke swam back and forth, dipping his muzzle in the stream and flicking water over himself.

For one so religious, Harlyn was not very intrusive when it came to discovering if others shared the same beliefs.  She trusted her intuition when it came to these matters.  Those who believed were quick to agree with her sentiments about their kindness.  Those who didn't would either scoff at her words, awkwardly try to change the subject, or do like Luke and smile politely, give a non-commital comment, and smoothly move past it onto something they shared in common.

Which for them, was water.  Harlyn laughed as he tugged at her and dove into the water.  She shrunk backwards to avoid the splash that came towards her, though she ultimately failed to miss it all.  She crept over to stand at the water's edge, giving her friend a playful smirk.  "Is that all you ever think about?  Swimming?" she said, reaching out a paw to splash a little water back in his direction.

Apologies for the wait! :)

He floated and dog paddled, relishing in the touch of cold water against him. Soon, winter's grasp would freeze the streams, and swims such as these would have to wait until the turn of the season. Was it all he thought about? "No," he replied with a chuckle, closing his eyes as her paw sent a splash of water toward him, landing in droplets along his muzzle and face. "I think about fish too," he joked. "I even think about you," he said next, a pause lingering between them before he stuck out his blue tongue and followed up with another comment. "I wonder why you're on the bank and not in the water!"

No problem!  Wanna wrap up soon?

It wasn't with many that Harlyn let her sophisticated demeanor fall by the wayside for the more playful and free-spirited nature beneath.  Mordecai had always had an easy time of getting her to drop it, and it seemed that it was a talent her friend Luke had as well.  She laughed as he spoke of fish, giving a light roll of her eyes.  She parted her lips to comment, but her voice caught in her throat at his next words.  They caught her off-guard, and for a moment she found herself speechless and even flushed.  He thought about her?

He clarified soon enough with a flash of his blue tongue, and Harlyn laughed and shook her head.  She hesitated for a moment longer, giving him a little smirking frown before finally, she heaved a sigh, and sped into the water towards him with a sizable splash, aiming to wrestle him (good-naturedly) underwater.

Yep we can wrap up now and have one more current! :)

She was more reserved than him, but not so much so that she could not engage in his play. At last, she joined him with a respectable splash. He laughed merrily, allowing her to sling her forepaws around him and wrestle him under the water, after which he took his turn to nip at her ears, tail, and anything else within reach. The pair frolicked like this for sometime in the stream before retiring to the bank to dry, chat, and then make their way toward the center of the hollow for the evening.